modular synthesis

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steevio
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Post by steevio »

oblioblioblio wrote:i would possibly say to skip out the ring mod and suboctave.
i was thinking the same thing.

i dont find ring mods very usefull tbh.

and the suboctave - i dunno you could do better for the money i think.

there's load of other modules you will find more useful, but i dont know what you've got planned bro.
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coldfuture
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Post by coldfuture »

steevio wrote:
oblioblioblio wrote:i would possibly say to skip out the ring mod and suboctave.
i was thinking the same thing.

i dont find ring mods very usefull tbh.

and the suboctave - i dunno you could do better for the money i think.

there's load of other modules you will find more useful, but i dont know what you've got planned bro.
Yeah not sure either hahaha! I just know that I'd like to be able to plug in my 303 sequences and then see those become something entirely different. The idea with the ring mod was just to have something to mess up sounds, but I am not sure I entirely understand the depth of MATHS for example. I get QMMG fairly well, and I do get some of the functions of the MATHS.

As to the Polivoks filter, well I met The Harvestman at NAMM a few years ago and fell in love with the sound of his stuff.

Do either of you know of the µZeus power supply that comes with the table top happy ending can be used to power some passive bus boards?

It seems its only a bit less powered than a full on Zeus.

Ok, I'll go back to looking at some other modules for my first 3u.
"Why does this process have to be SO complex" -- Ritardo Montalban
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Post by oblioblioblio »

It's really hard to suggest a starting point to a new user... i just went on gut feeling a lot and I seem to have ended up in an interesting place. The sequencing side of things is super interesting, but definitely maths and QMMG, and some oscs and a good filter is a great centrepiece that you can get super excited by and then think to build a system around. (or maybe it will be as far as you want to go (probably not))



I liked the Ring Mod on the Macbeth, and the Ring Mod on the R53 is zuper fantastic. I didn't really use the Macbeth one, even though you could get some great organ/electric piano like tones, and formants like choral tones. The Metasonix ring mod, I don't think it behaves like normal ring mods, so it might not be useful to compare. It sounds incredibly interesting though. I don't know how that info relates to me saying not to get a ringmod. Hmm, reckon if you oscillate that Polivoks at audio frequency you might be happy enough about things, ha ha.

Suboctave I don't find so necessary with a proper fat oscillator, but I'm sure there would be ways to use them creatively. I could see myself using one in parrallel to main osc, and using the suboctave to oscillate a filter, or something like that, rather than in classic style. The Harvestman one could be worth it in the right system and with the right user, I suspect the circuit will be interesting.

Maths is simple as fck... just takes a little time for your brain to gel with it. There's quite a lot packed in there, but one you click you're golden.

I don't know if Tiptop actually published any specs from the uZeus. I'm a little sceptical about those switching PSUs to be honest (they suck at powering tubes). If you ask Gur @ TTA he will be happy to help. In theory it wouldn't be a problem, but there might not be enough juice, and for me I'd rather have a more permanent system with properly attached busboards that weren't showing their asses to the world. But those things are perfect to dip into modular with... one of the main problems of modular is the cost of getting a case, and needing to plan ahead how far you will dissapear...
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Post by steevio »

coldfuture wrote:
steevio wrote:
oblioblioblio wrote:i would possibly say to skip out the ring mod and suboctave.
i was thinking the same thing.

i dont find ring mods very usefull tbh.

and the suboctave - i dunno you could do better for the money i think.

there's load of other modules you will find more useful, but i dont know what you've got planned bro.
Yeah not sure either hahaha! I just know that I'd like to be able to plug in my 303 sequences and then see those become something entirely different. The idea with the ring mod was just to have something to mess up sounds, but I am not sure I entirely understand the depth of MATHS for example. I get QMMG fairly well, and I do get some of the functions of the MATHS.

As to the Polivoks filter, well I met The Harvestman at NAMM a few years ago and fell in love with the sound of his stuff.

Do either of you know of the µZeus power supply that comes with the table top happy ending can be used to power some passive bus boards?

It seems its only a bit less powered than a full on Zeus.

Ok, I'll go back to looking at some other modules for my first 3u.
i started with a Maths and QMMG, plus some nice filters, oscillators, etc. and then progressed to sequencing and ditched my PC.
strangely i find the QMMG less useful now, but it was great when i didnt have much else. theres nothing magical about these modules, they're easy to understand once you've played round with them for a day.
Maths is very useful.
you have to start somewhere, and you'll only know what you really need once you get going, but the good thing is that its really easy to sell this stuff on and buy other stuff used, ive only sold about 4 modules and they went within a day.
btw they were; Clockwork, PLL, BD99 BD88.
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Phase Ghost
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Post by Phase Ghost »

While the QMMG is multi-functional, I've read that the VCA mode doesn't stand up to regular VCA's. I don't know first hand, but I've read these things. Possibly one of the reasons he switched directions to go with the timbre mixer. Purely speculating there. Doepfer makes a dual vca that's small and has two cv's per audio input. I have 2 of them.

Maths is a no brainer. I just got #2.

The VCO-2RM has a built in ring mod, so you really don't need another (unless you really love ring mods). I put together a CGS ring mod and I really like it. For $30, it was well worth it.

Maybe get a cheap used doepfer filter to go along with that Polivoks. Or a LFO like the A-145. I find myself using my quad lfo for fm'ing duties alot.

Either way, I'm sure you'll be with whatever you end up with. Don't forget patch cables. :shock:
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Post by steevio »

Phase Ghost wrote:While the QMMG is multi-functional, I've read that the VCA mode doesn't stand up to regular VCA's. I don't know first hand, but I've read these things. Possibly one of the reasons he switched directions to go with the timbre mixer. Purely speculating there. Doepfer makes a dual vca that's small and has two cv's per audio input. I have 2 of them.

Maths is a no brainer. I just got #2.

The VCO-2RM has a built in ring mod, so you really don't need another (unless you really love ring mods). I put together a CGS ring mod and I really like it. For $30, it was well worth it.

Maybe get a cheap used doepfer filter to go along with that Polivoks. Or a LFO like the A-145. I find myself using my quad lfo for fm'ing duties alot.

Either way, I'm sure you'll be with whatever you end up with. Don't forget patch cables. :shock:
the QMMG vca mode is ok actually, but maybe not the best, i think the thing i least like about it is the LPG mode, again its ok, but i'd rather use a dedicated filter.
the Z2040 is imo one of the most useful modules i have, FM'able filter and VCA in one, and sounds amazing.
i think if i had my time again i would go for two or 3 of those instead of the QMMG.

cables jeeeeeeeeeezzz, it goes exponenential the more modules you get,
i always need more cables
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Post by oblioblioblio »

Yeah I think the only problem with using an LPG like QMMG as a VCA is slight slowness and quite long decay time, but I really love them... if I have the chance I will always use an LPG over a regular VCA. Reverb sucks! :)

I believe the Borg is reasonbly similar in VCA mode, but as a filter that thing punches above it's weight, and then some. But those things aren't that cheap, compared to QMMG.

Can't really FM them particularly well either, which is one of the nice things about modular, FMing filters (and stuff generally)
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Phase Ghost
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Post by Phase Ghost »

steevio wrote: the Z2040 is imo one of the most useful modules i have, FM'able filter and VCA in one, and sounds amazing.
Couldn't agree more. You can get some really awesome things happening with all the modulation sources on this filter. I hope they do another filter.
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